Who we are

Who’s in the Lab

Lab Director

Jerry Shannon My broad interests are in urban development and inequality, geographic information systems, political geography, and place effects on health. More specifically, my research focuses on the role of maps and spatial analysis in shaping our understanding of hunger, housing, poverty, and neighborhood development. I’m also interested in the role of participatory research methods in mobilizing community action around these issues. - Professional website - Google Scholar

Undergraduate research assistants

Logan Wiley Undergraduate Student in Geography
Logan currently works on the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, collecting and analyzing data from the Athens Magistrate Court. Outside CML, Logan volunteers at the Nellie B. Community Garden and the Emergency Department at Piedmont Hospital.

LinkedIn page

Graduate students

Molly Azami
Ph.D. Student in Geography
I am a Geographer focused on Geospatial Science and GIS. I also have extensive computer programming and scripting background and enjoy merging these two interests to help with any mapping project, especially those focused on improving local communities. My current research are is with animal movement data to aide in human-animal conflict resolution.

Profile at UGA Geography

Maya B. Henderson (she/her)
Ph.D. Student in Geography
Sge:no! I am a Seneca-Cayuga Nation citizen and Indigenous scholar interested in community-scholarship, urban climate justice, Indigenous geographies and tribal sovereignty. My research focuses on how the worldmaking possibilities of climate action can be co-opted by settler-colonialism in urban spaces and the necessity of centering Native Nations and urban Native communities in order to create true climate justice. I am committed to being grounded in community and place which includes Athens, GA where I currently live as a guest on the land. This has led me to the Community Mapping Lab and various community geography and GIS projects including Anti-Eviction Mapping, Brooklyn Cemetery, and Linnentown.

Google Scholar page

Amber Orozco (she/her)
Ph.D. Student in Geography
I am a critical food studies scholar who draws from urban geography, Black geographies, and critical cartography. In particular, I am interested in understanding the relationship between racial capitalism and urban food inequities, as well as how communities are organizing for liberatory futures through food justice. Community geography is central to my ethos as an academic and one of my main motivators for my pursuing a PhD. I have been an active participant in CML since Fall 2021 and have contributed to projects such as the Athens 1958 City Directory Project and Linnentown. I am also serving as the Student Representative for the Community Geographies Collaborative.